Amidst the turning nature of CO to something that makes natives sick, hickenlooper has made a number of decisions outside his realm of authority, or so many feel...

The first decision, refuse any tax breaks to Republic to bring their (and F9) base of operations to Denver, where other cities agreed it was a good plan, namely Indy.

Second, signing 5 laws passed by the house/senate but adamantly opposed by the majority of the state, including 33 of 35 elected county sheriffs, inhibiting CO citizens from certain rights (debatable yes) guaranteed by the Second Amendment with regards to firearms ownership.

And now today to alleviate the right of CO residents who are a 'jury of peers' to sentence someone to death for a heinous crime....

I am not going to debate the issues above as I am sure my opinion is clear, but having talked to a number of my fellow CO voting groups, it seems as though hickenlooper has vastly over-stepped his bounds on all issues in an attempt to further his own agenda. Yes, I know Blagjoiovich or however its spelled tried to sell a senate seat, and there have been other 'scandals' but I have NEVER seen such a disregard of ones state as this guy has/is doing to CO...

Thoughts?

By reading the above post you waive all rights to be offended. If you do not like what you read, forget it.

I am not sure how the legislative process is set up in CO but I am guessing the bills came to him through some type of process. Short of being a dictator or using executive privilege then the law was written by representatives. (the sheriffs do not write the laws)

Now I am guessing with the emotional events that have happened in CO that there was a knee-jerk reaction to a couple of recent events. It appears to be a feel good law that will not resolve anything other than special interest groups feeling good over taking rights away from law abiding citizens.

Quoting ATCtower (Thread starter):The first decision, refuse any tax breaks to Republic to bring their (and F9) base of operations to Denver, where other cities agreed it was a good plan, namely Indy.

So CO is not a business friendly state and another state will get the base, all that means is that other communities/states will not have to offer as much as they normally would to remove the tax base from CO

Chickenpooper rode in on the coat tails of Obama. He has not introduced one ounce of legislation or provided any leadership as Governor since he was elected, elected BTW as being pro-death penalty. He is an empty chair who has been graced with the luck when it was not a popular idea to vote Republican.

He will find the next election tough going and the potential death penalty case of James Holmes will be a point of contention in his candidacy and during the election process. The deal with Chickenpooper is that the city of Denver carried him to victory in his election. He is not popular by any stretch of the imagination to the people outside of Denver, Aurora, and Boulder. And as long as he caters to those communities he most likely will have a good chance at being reelected next time around. But his job just got more difficult by his lack of a backbone in a very emotionally charged decision.

Seriously, using European law as a reason why he made his decision is laughable.

I won't comment on the first point because I don't know enough about the process in CO.

Quoting ATCtower (Thread starter):Second, signing 5 laws passed by the house/senate but adamantly opposed by the majority of the state, including 33 of 35 elected county sheriffs, inhibiting CO citizens from certain rights (debatable yes) guaranteed by the Second Amendment with regards to firearms ownership.

If the bills went through a normal and correct process, he has ever right to sign the bills. He is doing the will of the people as determined by the legislature, which the people elected.

If the people are unhappy with their representatives and their senators and their governor, the people will have a chance to voice their displeasure in upcoming elections.

People need to remember that elections matter and they have consequences.

Quoting ATCtower (Thread starter):And now today to alleviate the right of CO residents who are a 'jury of peers' to sentence someone to death for a heinous crime....

Hickenlooper is far from the worst governor ever. If you want bad see just about every governor of Louisiana or Illinois in the last 100 years.

Quoting ATCtower (Thread starter):The first decision, refuse any tax breaks to Republic to bring their (and F9) base of operations to Denver, where other cities agreed it was a good plan, namely Indy.

I don't see where that is outside his realm. Maybe he felt that the tax breaks were not worth the relatively small amount of poorly paying F9 jobs that would be saved/added . Given the business decisions F9 has made in the last year or so, I would argue he was correct.

Quoting ATCtower (Thread starter):Second, signing 5 laws passed by the house/senate but adamantly opposed by the majority of the state, including 33 of 35 elected county sheriffs, inhibiting CO citizens from certain rights (debatable yes) guaranteed by the Second Amendment with regards to firearms ownership.

If they were opposed by most Coloradans how did they get through the House AND Senate? I would look for answers there instead castigating Hickenlooper.

Quoting ATCtower (Thread starter):And now today to alleviate the right of CO residents who are a 'jury of peers' to sentence someone to death for a heinous crime....

That is completely within the realm of his authority. If Coloradans don't like it they can not reelect him in the next election...

Quoting KBJCpilot (Reply 2): He is not popular by any stretch of the imagination to the people outside of Denver, Aurora, and Boulder.

Demographics 101...

The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Colorado was 5,187,582 on July 1, 2012, an increase of 3.1% since the 2010 United States Census.[1] Colorado's most populous city, and capital, is Denver. The Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical Area with an estimated 2011 population of 3,157,520, has 61.90% of the state's residents.